Ratcheted toilet seat and lid

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides a toilet comprising a locking component that locks a toilet component (e.g. a toilet seat or toilet lid) in an open, closed, or intermediate position. The holding or locking of the toilet component can be provided by a hinge, a spring, or some other appropriate manner.

[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisionalapplication No. 60/476070 filed on Jun. 04, 2003 incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The field of the invention is toilet seats.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0003] It has been observed that, for a typical toilet seat or lid,raising it less than 90 degrees and then releasing it will result in theseat/lid crashing down against the bowl or seat of the toilet. Thisposes a safety hazard in that the force of the seat/lid crashing downcan hurt someone having a finger or other body part caught between theseat/lid and the bowl/seat. Even if no one gets hurt, the noise of theseat/lid closing can be an annoyance.

[0004] There is a need for toilet seats that address these problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0005] The present invention provides a toilet comprising a lockingcomponent that locks a toilet component (e.g. a toilet seat or toiletlid) in an open, closed, or intermediate position. The holding orlocking of the toilet component can be provided by a hinge, a spring, orsome other appropriate manner.

[0006] It is contemplated that toilet seats and lids may be improved by(a) using bumpers to cushion the contact between the seat and lid, and(b) using a hinge adapted to prevent the seat and/or lid from returningto its closed/down position without being pushed down or otherwisemanually released.

[0007] Various objects, features, aspects and advantages of the presentinvention will become more apparent from the following detaileddescription of preferred embodiments of the invention, along with theaccompanying drawings in which like numerals represent like components.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

[0008]FIG. 1A is a schematic of a ratcheted toilet.

[0009]FIG. 1B is a schematic of a hinge assembly.

[0010]FIG. 2 shows angles between a toilet seat and toilet lid.

[0011]FIG. 3 shows relationships between lid position and the forcerequired to move the lid farther up or down.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0012] Referring first to FIG. 1A, a toilet 100 comprises a lid 110, aseat 120, a bowl 130, and a hinge assembly 140. Lid 110 comprises pivotarms 111A and 111B, and bumpers 112. Seat 120 comprises pivot arms 111Aand 111B. Hinge Assembly 140 comprises end caps 141A and 141B, centerassembly 142 and pin 143.

[0013] Lid 110 may be any type of toilet lid but is preferred to includeresilient bumpers 112, and to have pivot arms 111A and 111B adapted tointeract with hinge assembly 140. Hinge assembly 140 functions to lockthe lid which means that the lid may be lifted (rotated away from thebowl 130) and released without the force of gravity pulling it backagainst seat 120. The bumpers are preferably constructed of rubber butother suitable materials include plastics, metals, and so on.

[0014] Seat 120 may be any type of toilet seat but is preferred to havepivot arms 121A and 121B adapted to interact with hinge assembly 140such that the seat is upwardly biased. It should be understood that boththe seat and the lid may be locked in an open, closed or intermediateposition, but in preferred embodiments, it is the seat that is locked.It should also be noted that in some less preferred embodiments only thelid will be adapted to be positioned (positionable) in the mannerdescribed above while in others only the seat will be so positionable.For the sake of clarity, much of the remainder disclosure will discussonly the lid as it would be clear to one of average skill in the artthat the features described may be and preferably will be equallyapplicable to toilet seats as well.

[0015] It is contemplated that in some embodiments it may be desirableto include a release mechanism in hinge assembly 140 to allow the lid tomove freely up and down. In other embodiments the release mechanism maybe needed to change the position of the lid. In those other embodiments,without actuation of the release mechanism, the lid: i) cannot be movedfrom a closed to an intermediate or open position; ii) cannot be movedfrom an intermediate position to an open or closed position or anotherintermediate position; and iii) cannot be moved from an open position toan intermediate or closed position.

[0016] As depicted in FIG. 1B, it is contemplated that hinge assembly140 may be adapted to allow end caps 141A and 141B to be pulled awayfrom center assembly 142 (and the pivot arms 111A, 111B, 121A, and 121B)in order to release the lid. Springs may be used to bias the end caps ina non-release position. In alternative embodiments, the hinge assembly140 which may comprise a lock mechanism that locks the seat in a closed,opened, or intermediate position. It will be understood by one ofordinary skill in the art that locking of the toilet component may beachieved at least partially by using a hinge and/or spring as well asother known techniques.

[0017]FIGS. 2A-2D show 4 positions of lid 110 in which lid 110 forms anangle (A1-A4) of less than 90 degrees with seat 120 and rim 131 of bowl130. In preferred embodiments lid 110 will be positionable to any angleat least less than or equal to 90 degrees. In less preferredembodiments, lid 110 may be positionable to a finite set of positionswhere the total number of positions is at least three (i.e. closed or 0degrees, open or approximately 90 degrees, and an intermediate positionwhere the angle is between 0 and 90 degrees). The locking mechanism maycomprise any mechanism that allows lid 110 to be positioned in such amanner.

[0018]FIGS. 3A-3C are illustrate some of the essentially infinitepossible relationships between lid position and the force required tomove the lid further up or down. In FIG. 3A, the force required to movethe lid does not change depending on the current position of the lid orwhether the lid is moving up or down. In FIG. 3B, the force required tomove the lid up is less than the force required to move the lid down,regardless of current seat position. In FIG. 3C, the force required tomove the lid up is always equal to the force required to move it downregardless of the current position of the lid, but the force requiredvaries between positions. It is contemplated that in some instances itmay be desirable to increase the amount of force required to move thelid as the lid approaches its closed position while in others thereverse may be true.

[0019] Thus, specific embodiments and applications of a ratcheted toiletseat and lid have been disclosed. It should be apparent, however, tothose skilled in the art that many more modifications besides thosealready described are possible without departing from the inventiveconcepts herein. The inventive subject matter, therefore, is not to berestricted except in the spirit of the appended claims. Moreover, ininterpreting both the specification and the claims, all terms should beinterpreted in the broadest possible manner consistent with the context.In particular, the terms “comprises” and “comprising” should beinterpreted as referring to elements, components, or steps in anon-exclusive manner, indicating that the referenced elements,components, or steps may be present, or utilized, or combined with otherelements, components, or steps that are not expressly referenced.

What is claimed is:
 1. A toilet, comprising a locking component thatlocks a toilet component in an open, closed, or intermediate position.2. The toilet of claim 1 further comprising bumpers coupled to a lid. 3.The toilet of claim 1, wherein the toilet component is a seat.
 4. Thetoilet of claim 1, wherein the toilet component is a lid.
 5. The toiletof claim 2, wherein the bumpers are comprised of rubber.
 6. The toiletof claim 1, wherein the locking component comprises a hinge assembly. 7.The toilet of claim 6, wherein the hinge assembly comprises ratchets. 8.The toilet of claim 6, wherein the hinge assembly comprises a spring. 9.The toilet of claim 1, further comprising a release mechanism thatreleases the toilet component from the open, closed, or intermediateposition.